Just what every family needs

And it's only $10 at the pharmacy.

I can do it!

This is the week of "I can do it!" in our house. Ava surprised us with some fine swing-pumping skills, casually informing us that she doesn't need to be pushed on the swing anymore. Given the fact I nearly checked myself into the hospital for swing-pushing-induced carpal tunnel syndrome a number of times, this is very good news. She also insists on dressing herself from top to toe, so we have been having a number of conversations about what it means to choose matching pieces. I suppose I should just let her go out in the tulip-print cozy pants, polka-dot top and orange-striped socks, but I struggle. I struggle. I thought she did pretty good here, though I can't figure out why she wanted to wear rain boots on a perfectly nice day:Julian's favorite phrase is quickly becoming "I do it Mama!" whether it concerns cutting up his salmon, brushing "teef," or walking up the stairs. It's almost as if the explosion in his vocabulary and ability to communicate has boosted his self-confidence in other areas as well. He also has a unique sense of style and love of rain boots. Perhaps it's genetic:

My son, the genius

Julian is not necessarily a genius but he is a marvel. He has gone from saying 30 or 40 words to having long, albeit very odd, and very repetitive conversations with us over the last month or so. Usually these are about various forms of cars (lately including the color of the car) or animals (always including the noises they make). Last night when he was in the tub we had a conversation that went something like:

J: "Mama, big cow, moo, tail."
N: "Oh, yes, cows have tails."
J: "Mama, mama! Zeba tail."
N: "Well, zebras have tails too, yep."
J: "Mama, cro-co-di-yul, big tail."
N: "Crocodiles have tails, too."
J: "Mee-ow."
N: "Are you a cat?"
J: "Cat, mee-ow, tail."

...etc. for longer than you'd care to think.

Baby shower

This weekend Sandy and I hosted a baby shower for Traci, who is due with her second son in a few weeks. It never occurred to me that the baby shower is a distinctly American tradition, and that the non-Americans we invited would be so excited/curious to experience said tradition. Their excitement was actually really cute, though it did induce minor panic in Sandy and I to do a really good shower (which led me to totally undercook my cake and overcook my cookies, both of which I've made many times before. Luckily Sandy's panic did not affect her cooking and her carrot cake was perfectly done). Despite the baked goods situation, I think the Swedish, British, Aussie and Dutch contingent had a good time and enjoyed the match-the-mommy-animal-with-the-baby-animal and remember-as-many-weird-baby-items-as-you-can-on-the-tray games.

It strikes me now as very American to celebrate a baby BEFORE it's born when in most cultures around the world they celebrate the baby after it's arrived. Apparently it was only after WWII when, presumably, the rate of infant mortality went down, that the pre-birth shower really took off in the U.S. Perhaps this counting of chickens before they're hatched is a reflection of our very optimistic (naive?) nature.

Smögen

Inspired by the sunny weather prognosis and a 4-day Easter holiday with no big plans in town, we drove up north this weekend to a cute little fishing town called Smögen. The town is filled with the types of stores you'd expect: fresh fish restaurants, cafes, and nautical-inspired stores featuring, rather oddly I thought, lots of red, white and blue home decor and clothing. We ate lunch at the harbor and were sad that the lobster auction wasn't happening the days we were there because that would have been the highlight of my week for sure. What you wouldn't necessarily expect in Smögen is its fabulous youth hostel (called Makrillsvikens Vandrahem) that has the most superb location and view. Here's a picture of the back of the hostel that butts up against the water and, more importantly, the view FROM the hostel's tidy common area: We are now Swedish youth hostel converts because we paid less than $100 for a room with 4 beds and our own toilet and shower, including breakfast. I guess the view is free! Somehow I'd forgotten about the whole hostel option, but now it's very much back on my radar and I've been happily perusing the hostel handbook for some options for later this summer.

Melbystrand Weekend

We just spent a beautiful the weekend with Sandy, Johan, Merel, Denis, Traci and Oliver at Sandy and Johan's summer house in Melbystrand, a sleepy coastal village about 1.5 hours south of Gothenburg. And man, did we luck out with the weather. On Saturday we woke up to bright blue skies and temperatures bordering on, dare I say, warm! We took a long walk along the coast where we could sort of see Denmark across the water and had lunch (outside! In the sun!) in Båstad, where there's apparently a very big tennis tournament every year. The picture of the little huts, above, was our view when we stopped for fika (coffee break) during our walk, and that's Ava and Traci's son Oliver climbing on an what we think is an old torpedo.

When we got back to the house, Johan pulled out some deck chairs and it took Merel and I about 5.2 seconds to plop down in them and get some chilled wine open. Johan's family came by for a visit and everyone sat around chatting and grazing and enjoying the sun. Honestly, I'm not even sure what Ava and Oliver were doing because they would just sprint by for some chocolate or chips every now and then and then run off to play in the playhouse or jump on the trampoline. Ah, Spring!

Sandy and Johan cooked up a storm all weekend, and dinner on Saturday was a delicious venison stew and Johan's special crispy baked potatoes that I'm definitely going to try to replicate. The whole weekend was very "gezellig" (this is now officially the only Dutch word I know and means something like fun and cozy and social all smushed together).